In Defense of The Lion.
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A rejoinder to a post by Dr. Obinna Aligwekwe.

I read a lot of lion bashing on Obinna's wall this morning. Evidently, the lion's domineering, and merciless predation in the wild has earned it lots of hatred from both humans and animals alike

I think the Lion is a king, but what is contentious is whether it is that of the jungle, or the grassland, and Lions live in grasslands.

Dr Obinna Aligwekwe is right that its appearance may have been responsible in deferring that regal claims to it. He is also right that one-on-one, a full grown male or female tiger will kill a full grown male or female lion.

The Tiger has the second strongest bite force among all the big cats after the Jaguar, but also the Tiger is heavier and bigger. A Tiger's paw packs enough strength that it can crack the skulls of some animals.

Relative to its size, the jaguar has the most powerful bite of big cats, registering at 1,500 PSI. But a close second is the tiger, the largest wild cat in the world, with a bite force of 1,050 PSI.

Talking of the jungle I will give it to the Gorilla. It lives in the jungle and it has a kingdom and is so strong that it can tear a lion apart and with a single well positioned strike can kill a lion without biting, but if it chooses to bite, its bite force is so strong that the hyenas and the bear can't dare 1,300 PSI of biting power, the gorilla has one of the most powerful bites.

He is however wrong in claiming that a Tiger's roar is louder than that of the Lion.

A lion's roar changes the dynamics of the wild, if God's favour smiles on you when you are on the Safari and you have the privilege to hear it, then you're blessed in this life. It is a great privilege I have enjoyed thrice and I am grateful for that.

Nothing in creation is like it. Every living thing takes notice even the giant Elephants and the king of the waters, Hippopotamus and Crocs because the wave transmits the message even to the depths of the waters. It simply says that if you can hear me, you are automatically under my jurisdiction.

Lions have a much louder roar than Tigers. Their roar can be heard up to 8 kilometers away and can be nearly as loud as thunder, while a Tigers roar can be heard from nearly 3 kilometers away, still loud but not as loud as a lion.

A Lions roar has inspired car exhaust pipe engineers of supercars to try and imitate that inimitable sound. When it roars every animal in the wild, big or small calls for a strategy section.

The roar of a Lion is so loud it can be heard up to 8 kilometers away and reaches 114 decibels at a distance of around one meter. I know many of you may not grasp this because of its technicality, but to break it down, the human pain threshold is at around 110 decibels.

What this means is that if you are standing too close to a roaring lion, it could cause you physical pain making all hairs in your body stand straight.

I do not know why Lions were created differently from other cats in that they are the only cats, big or small that is social, and live together. But that uniqueness is not only in their physical appearance (Mane), it is also manifest in their roaring.

Unlike other big cats, when a lion roars, air from its lungs is pushed through the larynx and over the vocal folds. The square shape of the vocal folds helps maintain a larger surface area for vibration.

This increased surface area allows for more significant vocal fold vibrations. It also effectively stabilizes the vocal folds, enabling them to vibrate in a controlled and consistent manner. As a result, lions can produce powerful sound waves without needing to exert excessive force on their lungs.

Because they are real estate moguls, they use their roars to announce that trespassers will be prosecuted. So if you are a Lion, and you hear the roar of another lion loud and clear, it is like that Chinese compound word Wei Ji which means crisis and opportunity, because you may be intruding into a territory of a stronger competitor that may destroy you, but if you know your onions, you may get a prime real estate after a life threatening battle. So the choice is yours; fight or flight.

It is all the times that roaring ends in a battle, female lions use it to search for missing cubs, to coordinate the pride, and also send messages for hunting strategies.

Another very important use of roaring is in mating. It can be deployed as sex calls especially with some prides of female only lions without a male. When the females are ready for mating, and their cubs are old enough not to fall victims of infanticide, they use roaring to assess potential mates.

Like all animals (except unfortunately humans) , lionesses are extremely selective when it comes to mating, they do not get carried away by anything, and nothing can go wrong.

Their eyes hardly leaves the ball because they know the great importance of what they are about to embark on, because it is the business of their future generation they are about. Thus a destiny fulfilling journey.

That’s why when a Lion makes a mating roar; they will carefully dissect that sound. A Lion’s roar is like an acoustic DNA test, in that sound is his age, size, strength, testosterone level, physical built, good looks, or ugly, and also ability to father, raise, and defend the females and the cubs in times of trouble.

Any changes in the frequency, duration, or tone of their vocalizations can signal potential health issues, stress, or discomfort, so females do not take chances in this area, and for most female animals, there are no rooms for a one night stand, except ofcourse the Bonobos that use sex to settle quarrels.

Female lions respond positively to only the roars that meet their expectations, and when the Lion appears, if by any chance what they ordered is not what was delivered, they will never allow him to mount, but if their lives are in danger, they play the game, and flush out the sperm before conception. It is serious business.

And because a pride is made up mostly of sisters from same mother, or first cousins, they do not mind in sharing a single male (where available males are two or three) that has all the qualities they want.

Roars are unique to each lion, that’s why prides can use it to echolocate missing members, or returnee fathers. Roaring can also indicate dominance, submission, territorial disputes, or even mating behaviors.

Lions run highly sophisticated community systems, closer to and in some areas more advanced than some human societies (lol).

But a Tiger doesn't have a kingdom, and you cannot be king without a kingdom, and lion has a Pride it rules over.

This is why they call it King. Not because of its own strength but the collective strength of its kingdom.

It runs one of the most strategically organised, and highly sustainable systems in the animal kingdom.

The young man ruling Burkina Faso can beat Joe Biden one-on-one. But New York City (LGA) Police Department is stronger than entire Burkinabe armed forces.

That is why the Lion is King.

(c) Facebook.com/Kelechi Deca